Pak must act against terror, Modi tells Xi

Bishkek: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said Pakistan must take concrete action against terrorism affecting India to create an atmosphere for peaceful bilateral relations, as the issue came up during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping here.The Prime Minister said India had made efforts to build cordial relations with Pakistan but those were “derailed’’, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told media persons after the meeting between Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.There was a brief discussion, Gokhale said when asked whether Pakistan and terrorism emanating from there figured in the talks between Modi and Xi.The Prime Minister stated that India’s position has been consistent that it wants peaceful relations with Pakistan, the Foreign Secretary said.Modi underlined to Xi that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terror, but as of now we don’t see it happening. The clear message given by Modi to Xi assumes significance against the backdrop of the consistent efforts made by China, which considers itself as “all-weather friend” of Pakistan, to stall an international attempt to proscribe chief of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad Masood Azhar by the UN Security Council till recently.China, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, finally relented to allow the world body to sanction Azhar May 1.Soon after his meeting with Xi, Modi said he had an “extremely fruitful meeting” with Chinese President Xi and he discussed the full spectrum of bilateral relations as they vowed to work together to improve the economic and cultural ties.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders after Modi’s re-election following the stunning victory of the BJP in the general elections last month.

Had an extremely fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping. Our talks included the full spectrum of India-China relations.

“Had an extremely fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping. Our talks included the full spectrum of India-China relations. We shall continue working together to improve economic and cultural ties between our nations,” Modi tweeted after the delegation-level talks with President Xi.

The meeting began with Xi congratulating Prime Minister Modi over his election victory. “After the election results in India, I got your message, and today again you wish me on the victory, I am very grateful to you for this,” Modi replied.

Xi had extended “heartfelt congratulations” to Modi for winning the general elections last month, in a rare gesture of greeting a foreign leader well before the official announcement of the results.

“On behalf of all Indians, I wish you a very happy birthday,” Modi told Xi, greeting the Chinese leader who will turn 66 on June 15.

“As you said, in the days to come, we both can progress on several subjects. We both have a contemporary tenure to work more,” he said.

The 2018 Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day Doklam standoff, triggered by Chinese troops attempts to build a road close to Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017.

After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties.

The two leaders have met more than 10 times in the last five years, including thrice after their informal summit in Wuhan – first at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in June last in China’s Qingdao, the second time at the BRICS summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg in July and third time in December last on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the two leaders had a warm meeting. “Leaders discussed all aspects of enriching our bilateral relations and recognised the positive role of strategic communication in deepening our partnership,” Kumar said.